Dreaming of a clear blue summer’s day….

And also trying to think up a name for my new skirt. Seriously, how do you guys come up with names for what you make? Do you even bother naming them?? I often hit a mental stumbling block when it comes to names…. *sigh*

Anyway, wanna see my new skirt?

It’s the Miss Chalmers skirt, by Papercut. A nice and simple and cute pattern. It’s a straight skirt, with a yoke (front and back). The front yoke curves down, and the front skirt gathers up into the middle of it. Invisible zip closure at the centre back, add a facing, and you’re all done. Easy! (And seriously folks – this was a super easy skirt to make. If you’re a beginner, don’t be scared of it!)

I couldn’t decide which fabric to use, so The Curious Kiwi chose for me. (Thanks, Mel!) (Gee, sounding a bit indecisive for this one, aren’t I? Can’t decide on the fabric, can’t decide on the name….) It’s a vintage blue pinwale corduroy from my stash. I can’t remember where it came from, it’s been there quite a while. I’m pretty sure I inherited it from someone, most likely from my mother’s stash. (Thanks, mum!)

I played around with the direction a bit – the cord is running vertically on the skirt, and horizontally on the yoke, just for the fun of it. I wasn’t entirely sure how that would work out, since cord is directional, but it’s turned out fine, don’t you think?

(Please ‘scuse the wrinkles – I’d been wearing this all day, including have pizza for dinner on the grass in the park….)

The pattern is from Papercut, who by now you’ve heard me talk about a bit. I must admit to not having the paper pattern for Miss Chalmers, though – instead, since it was the “make something from a book” challenge over on The Monthly Stitch, I went and got a copy of Home Sewn out of the library and made it up from there. Which means you get two little reviews – one for the pattern, and one for the book! (I’ll do the book one another day though, so this post doesn’t end up too massive!)

So, review time.

Miss Chalmers, as mentioned earlier, is a lovely, easy little garment to make up. As has been my experience with all Papercut patterns so far, the instructions are nice and clear, everything matches up well, and it’s fun to follow along with.

The pattern calls for a facing, identical to the yoke, on the inside which is used to hide all the raw seams. I decided to line my skirt instead, since the inside of corduroy is rather grippy and I want to be able to wear this with tights in winter. It was pretty easy to line it – I just made the skirt again, attached it like you would the facing, and hemmed it about an inch shorter than the skirt itself. And done!

I didn’t do any intentional alterations to the pattern – originally I planned to add a back vent, as I usually find it quite hard to walk in straight skirts (long legs, long stride lengths), but I decided to try walking in it with the vent pinned closed before I stitched it up, and it turned out I could walk in it easily. So, no back vent. 🙂 Since Papercut patterns tend to be rather short, I did wonder if this skirt would be as well, but went with the original length, which turned out to be pretty good. So, yay!

(Like my little photo bomber in the background, complete with model pose? Hah!)

Sadly though I did have to spend a bit of time altering it, which was both my own fault and my own choice. I cut the size M, and it ended up sitting on my high hip. I prefer things to sit around my natural waist, so I took it in by a good size to get it sitting in the right spot. It’s still a little lower than I’d like, but it’s near enough. When I went back to look at the measurements again, I actually fell in between a S and a M, so in hindsight I should have just cut the size S. Ah well, I now have the S size all traced out and ready to be made up, so we’ll see how that goes! (I have a suspicion it’ll still sit a bit lower than I’d like, but I’ll let you know once I’ve made it up in a small size.)

I bound the hem with navy blue ribbon, and did a hand-stitched blind hem. Because, you know, I’ve decided I really like them so it’s worth taking the time to do them. 🙂

This skirt is quite different from my usual style, so I must admit I wasn’t too sure of it to begin with. But I’ve ended up wearing it 4 times in the past week, so it seems to have assimilated into my wardrobe nicely. So nicely that I’m planning another one, this time with side pockets. Oh yeah!

In typical Wellington fashion, we had gorgeous sunshine and warmth last weekend, followed by horizontal rain and cold and a temperature drop of about 14 degrees (Celcius), so you get to see it for both summer and winter.

(And check it out – it goes well with my Corporate Hipster blazer! Total Papercut fangirl outfit day, haha!)

So yes, Miss Chalmers is a winner!

(Although I still can’t think of a name for it…. Got any suggestions?)

Fabric: vintage blue pinwale corduroy from my stash; dark green lining from my stash
Notions: 23cm invisible zip; navy ribbon for hem binding
Pattern: Miss Chalmers from Papercut
Year: modern
Verdict: loving it! It can be dressed up for work, dressed down for the weekend, good for all seasons
Make again: oh yeah! Next time, in size S and with pockets